Ether Works' Altera (IC)

[Zender_Solarheart]

Greg was about to respond to the Dark Knight when the new guy...err, cat walked in, which seems to set off both Shima and the third armored party at once. Okay, enough of this...

...and then, the bar owner enlightens them on how tough this guy really is.

"Well, that helps our case now, doesn't it? With a little prior supply shopping, I think the four of us should be sufficient, yes? As for the bounty's splitting...well, if we make it back, I'll help pay off the difference with a celebratory round of drinks for us all. Sound fair?"

[Noosie]

After a brief moment of consideration, the Dark Knight nods towards Greg in assent. "Think I've had enough to drink fer today, at least. An I suppose if there's more o' them than us, the lil' kitty 'ere can come along. Just so long as I don't hafta keep his ass alive." The so recently risen eyebrow sinks back to its more relaxed position. As another thought crosses the knight's mind, it joins its twin between her blue eyes, wrinkling her brow as she goes over a possible shopping list. Her brow furrows further as she realizes that the little "situation" she left upstairs might be somewhat awkward to deal with.

"If'n we're gonna get goin' anytime soon, the sooner the better. This bounty might know e's got a price, an' 'es prolly on tha move. An' I think we can all agree that coin now's be'er than coin tomorrah."

[MiscChaos]

"Money is little more than a positive side effect for me, so I have no problem with this arrangement." Shima says. The only thing she'd really put it towards is potions and items of that nature anyway. "I also agree with the Knight's statement. This should be the man's last sun." turning to the Shield Kitty, Shima does little more than give a lessened glare. She still doesn't trust the fool since he's drunk, but at the very least, he'll soak up damage she'd other wise have to deal with.

[Oroboros1337]

The Gamboler's Ace

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

The patrons of the Gamboler's Ace are certainly keeping an extra eye on the adventuring party now forming up. Champions of the Gods or no, half of them seem to be drunk to the point of sloppy, and nobody wants to get clocked by a stray sword or fist. For the most part, they just keep their heads down and wait.

The Market Ward

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Salora heads off to the Market Ward to find out if she can afford some healing potions. The streets of the Market Ward are busy today, much like they are every day. It would take some kind of special event or concerted player effort to keep people from showing up to trade their goods. Her first stops at some weapon and armour traders show her rather quickly that replacement weapons and armour are certainly available, but to get anything better than what she has is going to cost her some more serious cash. New weapons start at five gold, and armour isn't much cheaper.

Potions on the other hand, Salora finds much cheaper. In fact, as she strolls the market ward, her passing by gets a whistle of appreciation. When she looks to see who it is, she sees a man in his mid twenties sitting on a giant pillow in the market square underneath a sun shade. He's got set up beside him a wooden box full of glass vials. The man himself is dressed rather casually, billowy pants and a open vest, showing off his lean figure. He gives a grin over at Salora and waves her over, "Come on here, I can tell from the look of you that you are an adventurer. And if you are an adventurer, you need potions. I want to be your potion dealer, so come take a look at what I've got for sale." He then reaches up and scratches his chin thoughtfully, "No, scratch that. Come here and I want to offer you a deal. I need to earn your trust, right? I've got here something you might be interested in. It's a health boosting potion. Drink it, for the next hour you've got a bonus one hundred hit points. (GM note : That would be a +2 to next combat check) Could give you just the edge you need to defeat some lower level monsters, and the best part is you can use it before the fighting starts." He draws out the vial, a long, narrow one filled with red liquid and holds it up for her inspection. "Normal market value for a buff like this, five gold. I'll sell it to you for cost of ingredients, one gold. For an extra silver, I'll even toss on a standard healing potion (GM Note : consume after you lose one round of combat to not be defeated). You won't find those for cheaper than 5 at standard price."

The Briar Wood

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Briar Wood isn't terribly far from town, one of the lower level dungeons that is available. It's visible from the town's gates and the walk to the forest is reasonably safe, just involving passing over a couple of farmer's farms.

The trees of Briar Wood are incredibly thick and old. They tower between ten and thirty feet tall, and tree trunks are typically at least two feet thick. The underbrush is quite dense as well, obscuring a lot of view. Definitely prime terrain for ambushing people or monsters. One must be careful of which brush to use as well, as the woods are not named for no reason. Some bushes contain thick briars, thorns as much as five inches long that could cause some serious harm to an unwary explorer that were to run through them. The canopy is thick enough to block out most of the light even in the day, leaving things genearally as well lit as one might expect from a candle lit room.

When Lucy arrives at the forest, it's dark branches cut the shapely blonde from the sun above. It might be more worrying to her if her own abilities weren't so focused around generating light. Still, it would be worthy of note that in this environment, her magical abilities might be akin to setting off a flare. Anyone close enough to see the light would definitely notice it. From deep in the forest to the right, she can hear the howl of a wolf as it prowls the landscape. A little to her left, deeper into the forest as well, she can see the haunting glow of some kind of ghostly illumination. It's very faint and hard to make out what it is from here. She could head towards the howling, towards the illumination, or wander off into the heart of the woods and see what she encounters. (Or anything else you'd like to do, of course)

Vanguard HQ

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Once he is addressed, Jarvin turns towards Kayleesa and shoots he a small smile. "Ah, Kayleesa. Good to see you back." He steps on over towards her to chat, his heavy armour moving smoothly and relatively quietly with the motion of his body. He looks down to her, having little choice considering his height. "Well, with the immediate city scouted, there isn't much to be done. The Misty Vale and Briar Wood are resistant to your scouting them by simply flying overhead, their vision is obstructed. Arcanos' Keep was a great thing to have you add to our map. It seems to me the boss of the Keep must have a rare drop at least. If we can get that first for the Guild, it should be a big help. However, you'll need to build up before you can do that." He casts a gaze back over the weapons in the hall again while he ponders briefly. After a bit of introspection, he tells the angel, "Strengthening yourself would be beneficial. However, if you are looking for something more direct, we could use someone to go and explore the War Zone. I think we won't be able to close that Rift for quite some time, if ever, but we still aren't sure if leaving it alone will cause it to expand, or if it can maybe be fought into a small control area. Not to mention the influence points that can be won from fighting there could be used by the guild for some major advantages. Purchasing some buffs perhaps so we could take the boss of Arcanos Keep while leveling up less."

Arcanos' Keep

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

The mystical energies that Severine conjures up against the rats come at great difficulty. Mixing and matching all four elements to compile together a new spell, while simultaneously targeting four creatures, proves to be a test of her skill. While her specialty is indeed that of elemental magics, her level is still holding her back. It is her player's own skill that keeps the spell wave forms from collapsing and the elemental oppositions from collapsing each other. The rats seem to perk up as the arcane powers build, their hairs beginning to stand further on end as their tension peaks. Then, the powers come crashing down amongst the rats.

(Combat! Severine rolls 1d8 for her Cunning, +2 for her two gear pieces, scores a 5+2=7. The razor rats roll a d6, and their numbers get them a +3 to their roll. They score a 4+3=7. Tie!)

The rats leap into action as the spells come crashing down. The fire and wind bolts are swifter than the other two, crashing down upon the rats. An abrubt flash of smoke and the skidding boddy of the rat reveals just how much damage Severine managed to do to the first, and the air blades prove too difficult for the rat to see and avoid, slicing it in dozens of places, causing it to drop limp. The two remaining rats however leap past their respective attacks and rush the sorceress. They quickly dart within her spell range, teeth flashing as they nip at her body, cutting right through her robe to sink into her legs.

(Severine will suffer a -1 to all Might checks until she finds a source of healing or rests. Two of the rats are slain)

[daxtinator396]

Dax just glares at the Dark Knight. How dare he mock his shield! This shield had... done nothing. All he had done was sit on his ass and drink to forget troubles he had to stare at the whole time. So obviously it didn't work and he just drank more. Now he was drunk and trying to keep his flaring temper as his tail swished angrily back and forth like a whip. He would show this person... he would show them just how good of a warrior he could be,"My name is Dax so you can quit calling me Shield Kitty if you please... I understand your point though. I'm not that drunk though and should be fine soon... hopefully."

[Sortaix]

Salora was busy milling about the market looking for anything that could be of use, and within her price range. Unfortunately for her, all the pieces that would have been useful were still too costly for her. She was sort of expecting this, as it wouldn't be expected to get better equipment for yourself without any real effort now would it. She then decided to head on to get some potions when she was stopped by a someone. He was apparently a potion salesman, looking for a sale. He was able to pick up on the fact that she was an adventurer, and that would indicate that he was one of the game people, a...NPC. He was apparently offering her a good deal, probably something for any of the low level characters that actually spent some time to look in the market, instead of heading straight out to fight. She thought it was rather interesting, but there are several games that hide little prizes and surprises everywhere. She decided to give him a shot and buy the potion, as well as the extra healing potion.
"Sure, I'll give your potion a shot, and I'll take that extra healing potion as well. I'm just getting ready to head to the Misty Vale, so if I make enough money there, I'll be back to buy some more potions from you."
Salora stated to the man as she bought these potions from him. She now had some potions and was ready to head off to Misty Vale. Assuming that the monsters weren't that bad, she might try to take on the boss though, she may wait to level up a little before that. She had played one game that expected people to gather allys and such to take on bosses, in an effort to help their players make friends, and therefore the bosses were usually too much for one person. Well, the least she could do was go kill a monster or two, and hopefully get some coin.

[joeyjoey61297]

"Ohh and by the way watch out for traps I'm sure where ever he is there is bound to be a lot of em'"
Now that Jo remembered to say that some how she forgot to mention that important detail, she started helping the 3 waitresses serve drinks to her customers for she did have other patrons to serve instead of the big adventurers group.

[Reapergod36]

Vara sat idly near the portal she had descended from. She looked at her forested surroundings, the portal creating ash below it. Vara would be here at the orders of her master; she would not disobey him. The fear of death and torture was always at a high, but Vara had gained more favor than most of her master's servants. Gaining some sort of sick kindness from her master; Vara pressed her bare feet against the grass, feeling the sensation of grass for the first time. She looked a bit confused by her surroundings; there was no one to dominate. Her home naturally having slave upon slave in need of dominance, she couldn't lie to herself. She felt quite useless here. She would walk through the forest her hips swaying from side to side, with her left hand on her hip. Her right hand wielding her whip, the other items (that she wasn't wearing); would be held in a pouch on the back of her waist, dangling over her tight untouched ass.

As she heard the song of the birds, she would find it reminiscent of the songs of her realm. Artistic, yet somewhat blunt with its intent, it would be disrupted. As a raccoon ran out in front of her, she stopped for a moment. Her eyes wide in surprise, she watched as it just ran across. She was surprised it didn't attack her. Usually being surprised warranted an attack where she hailed from.

Upon her stopping she noticed a familiar feeling, the warm air of this world. It drew her attention to the sun for a moment, her demon eyes unaffected by the burn of the sun. She would turn around, and continue walking.

[Icaelus]

Well, maybe the girl needed some help after all. Mel stepped out of the cover of the trees, faefire blazing in her hand. With the other, she raised the bronze lantern that she held, lighting it with the fire in her handle. The faefire was a magical flame spell only available to the Fae race. It was immensely hot and easy to cast to boot, being able to set fire to anything was a very handy trait of the flame.
Other elements were of course readily available to the Fae, but in any case, Mel preferred to focus on faefire, due to it's strong offense. You know what they said. Best defense was a strong offense.
The Fae girl bent down and set the bronze lantern down, throwing an eerie blue light over the field momentarily. It would illuminate whoever or whatever hiding in the trees or bushes if any of the light touched them, an useful skill that had helped Mel avoid enemies a whole lot more efficiently. Of course, due to that, her experience gain suffered heavily. In fact, this was the first time she had ever entered combat in quite a while..two days, maybe?
Scooping up a couple of stones as she straightened, the faefire in her hands instantly took to the rock, it's trait of being able to burn on anything obvious.
"Hey!"
Mel called out to the mage, a smirk on her face as she assumed a baseball pitcher's stance, bending her arm backwards and then firing a blazing rock directly at the closest razor rat. She would repeat the process with the second rat with her remaining stone.

[Inferi]

No matter how many times she stood in front of Jarvin, Kayleesa would never get used to the height difference. She was by no means a short individual, her angel avatar standing as tall, if not slightly taller, than most people, but the height difference between her and her guild leader was a bit overwhelming. He put everyone else in the guild to shame, and truly had the stature of someone leading a guild of individuals dedicated to becoming stronger and beating the world. Even with the level difference, she wouldn’t want to take him on in a fight. People bigger than her were naturally more intimidating, although she was trying to shake off that mentality due to the nature of this world. Smaller was no indication of a lack of strength, something she knew would be good to remember.

She nodded regretfully when he mentioned her failure to accurately catalogue Misty Vale and the Briar Woods, something that she wanted to do but had passed over due to the ease of marking other areas. Those would come in time, when she didn’t need to rush it. Not yet, anyways. There were a lot of people in those areas, and mapping an area was difficult when people kept getting in your way. Enemies wouldn’t be an issue, or at least not a large one, in Misty Vale, and Briar Woods would be easy enough once she went up a few levels. Those maps weren’t as important right now, anyways, given that the place of import right now seemed to be the Keep. If she was any higher of a level, that would be a very good place to go, given her class’s natural advantage against mages, but as it was she didn’t think she’d stand a chance. While she knew people went to places like that far under their level, it was usually in a large group and even then they usually had to know exactly what they were doing to make it work right. She had neither of those in her favor, so it was out of the question for now.

The Rift, though…that was a place of interest, and something she had been curious about ever since she heard of it. An area that continuously spawned hordes sounded dangerous, but Jarvin brought up a point that she had never bothered to think about. Would the Rift expand if they didn’t do anything about it? That might have a minimal effect on the players, or it could have a massive effect. They wouldn’t know unless it happened, but if it could she wasn’t planning on letting it. That was something you kept in check so that you would never find out what the consequences were. Besides, the rewards for it seemed like they could be substantial from what she had heard, so there really wasn’t any reason not to take time and do something about it.

“That sounds like a decent idea.” she said after considering the options. While leveling would be nice, perhaps she could do some of that at the Rift too. After all, she would like to see what exactly the combat of it entailed, and that would likely end with some assistance in leveling herself.

“I’ve actually been curious about the Rift anyways.” she added. “I’ll see what I can figure out about it, and I’ll see what the combat entails as well. Might as well kill multiple birds with a single stone.”

Well, that was her plan anyways. As long as the Rift didn’t have some high recommended level, in which case her strategy would need to be changed a bit. If she hadn’t made it clear yet, there was no way she was going to enter an area where the level recommendation was more than one, maybe two, above her own. There just wasn’t enough faith in her own ability yet for that to happen. She didn’t want to die, no matter how many times she was able to respawn.

That brought another important point to her mind, and that was the fact that, if she was heading into combat, healing potions would be nice to have. She had none as of yet, and as she still had her starting money it seemed prudent to use it to buy herself some of those. Equipment, or at least armor and weaponry, were easily taken care of, her weapon more powerful than most of the ones that the typical new player had. Being an angelic knight had a few perks, at least, since it seemed it was expected for her to charge head-first into the armies of evil. That wasn’t too far from the truth, either, if what she was planning on doing was any indication.

“Anything else important?” she asked, keeping her gaze on Jarvin. If he didn’t have anything that required her to do something, she might as well make her way to the Market Ward and see what was there that she could buy. While she could probably ask the guild for potions, it seemed inappropriate at this point. Maybe later, when she actually needed to get them, it would be a question she could ask.

[napsii]

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucking low-levels are so boring to play in this game! thought Sev, gritting her teeth in irritation as two of her glorious attacks sailed by the Razor Rats harmlessly. Seeing but two of them implode was not enough for her; as far as she was concerned, failing to nuke a group of rats in at least one strike was the mark of a noob. She pedaled backwards, hands still lit with the arcane glow of magic, as the two Rats charged. Actually, she supposed that she was a noob for all intents and purposes being that she was a measly level one (No thanks given, of course, to the mass hysteria which had made leveling over the past week an irredeemable challenge) but there was something about not being able to slay rats, the cannon fodder of literally every fantasy RPG she'd ever played, that rubbed her the wrong way. Perhaps it was just a prejudice of hers as a gamer. She growled loudly as the Rats closed in, tearing two painless slashes through her robe as they whizzed by. She could actually feel the dull ache that was her hit points dropping, but being that this was Altera, she shrugged off the two bites as easily as a light breeze. Actually, it was the damage to her ornate robe that she despised more than anything.

Speaking of wind... she thought, swiveling around on a pivot to face the two Rats which had escaped her first spell. While she had watched her initial attack run its course, she noticed how lazy the water and earth shots were in relation to the fire and wind strikes. Perhaps they were just the slower element? She raised her hands, a gust of wind surging into existence around her left hand while the right became ablaze in a corona of orange-red flame. These were weak beasts, but they were quick, and she would have to match them. Just as she was about to carry through with a duology of elemental spells, though, a bright glow overtook her vision and she instinctively turned her head to the sight of another player -- looked like a Fae -- approaching the battle with a luminescent flame in one hand and a lantern in the other. Severine immediately reared up, turning back to the two rats with all haste. She pitched her right hand forward, toward one of the rats, and the bright flame contracted to a burning fireball within her palm that lobbed from her hand as soon as she unclenched her fist, sailing like a grenade right into the rats' midst to explode in a haze of flame as soon as it touched the ground.

When a separate fireball glided into view from the Fae, she had the immediate feeling that she was just about to get nuked by a Ganker trying to catch her off guard. But instead, the attack sailed toward one of the rats. Oh, great, it was something even better: a killstealer.

"Hey, cut it out! This is my kill!" she shouted, voice razor with irritation as she pushed her wind-wrapped palm forward to the other rat anyway. The air around her arm roared and distorted, and a trio of misty wind blades rocketed from her hand in unison, one after the other, to home in on the stupid-looking creature.

"I've got this under control." she grunted, already convinced the Fae was out to steal her XP, or gain her trust and then... stab her in the back, or something. Or maybe she was just trying to help where it wasn't needed... or wanted. She couldn't help but notice the other player's glowing lantern thing, though.

Last thing I want other people to hear about is my inability to take on... rats. she thought with a mental sigh. It became an even harder sigh when she realized that her Might had been debuffed by the rats. Not like she really had much use for it, but stat penalties were a digital pain in her digital ass. Which she preferred to keep intact, where possible. As well as the rest of her character's body.

[BlueLight]

"That's 15 for 18 and a win. That puts me only one peg in front of you my good sir. I'll remind you that you said i would not in a hundred years, be able to make 22 points by next tern, and you'd triple the bet. i'd like my 3 cops' added to my winning" Sanji said. He wasn't sure why he was playing Cribbage with the man across from him. Okay it's because they're both board waiting for someone to pick them up. It's not like either of them were playing that well either. after all, Sanji's last hand was pure luck. Sanji winning's so far put him 2 coppers ahead; as stated, neither of them was playing that well to begin with.

"I think you cheat, and i don't like cheaters. Do you know what i do with cheaters?" the man stated. They both did this when their luck was bad.
Sanji started the shuffle and within a minute handed the cards over to the man who scuffed at him but then cut the deck and handed them back. Sanji followed by dealing one card to the man and then one to himself, then continued until both of them had 6 cards. He put the deck between the two of them but on the right side. They both looked at their hands and discarded 2 cards each, face down right next to the deck. Sanji flips the top card on the deck and looks at the man.

"We're playing for 1 cop a point; granted i have won two out of three games tonight, but i wouldn't say i have much of a financial future taking your money like this. We're been at this for 2 hours and neither of us has a profit to show." Sanji said annoyed. Playing cards and role playing didn't tend to get you in to groups, and he was above begging like a dog.

Next part of the conversation starts with man saying "15 for 2", then sanji states "20 for 2" followed by "25 for 4". The man moved his peg 6 pegs up and moved sanji's peg up by 4. The game was already looking bad,and sanji's eyes wondered to the bar to wish for a drink.
He stared at the cards. He placed a 8, followed by a five; his opponent placed first, and had a 2 and two 5 ; now all he had left was a 3 and a six. He could place the 6 and gets 31 points for 2, or place the 3 and hope his opponent didn't have something lower than a 3.

[Oroboros1337]

The Market Ward

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

When Salora opts to take the potion merchant up on his offer, the merchant gives a broad grin. He's very pleased that she is willing to buy these potions at what seems to be a vastly discounted price. When she hands him the coins, he doesn't even really bother to check them before he puts them into the jar of his market stall. Perhaps he just trusts her to pay him correctly. Perhaps he's so confident in his wares that if she didn't pay him enough, he'll be able to extort the price out of her later. Whatever the reason, money must not be top of mind. He is sure to hand over the two potions to the elf woman with a smile, "Put these to good use. And remember not to hold onto them too long, seasoned adventurers need potions worthy of their experience. These are good for rookies, but veterans need veteran grade potions."

The Misty Vale is quite close to town, just out the gate then a ten minute walk down the road. A foot path leads down into the region there. The road seems to be the second highest part of the entire region, the highest being a spire that juts up from below. Everywhere below the hight of the entry path to the Misty Vale region is covered in a rather thick fog, minimizing vision and forcing people to explore up close and personal. The spire in the the center has some tantalizing hints to it's peak, what looks to be a structure on the top. Some rather large birds of prey circle the spire as well, presumably monsters to fight.

The Briar Wood

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

The portal that Vara took into the region deposited her in one of the rare clearings in Briar Wood, somewhere that when one looks up, one can actually see the sky above. All around her tall, thick trees dominated the landscape and gloom of the underbrush was all that could be seen as routes for her to take. Thorns dominated many of the bushes, denying her easy passage through those, but there were several other paths that would grant her somewhere to walk without being impaled.

The thick brush and dim lighting proves to be quite the deterrant to vision, even if her demon eyes are well adapted to the darkness of her realm. As a result, she gets to about fifteen feet away from the strange man when she first sees him. He's of average height and from his manner of dress, he's clearly at home in this forest. He is wearing a green tunic over brown pants, the colours ones that easily blend into the background colours of the trees. Greying hair is drawn up above his head in a practical top knot. He has a messenger bag on him and he is crouched over at the base of a tree, picking away at something near the roots with his hands.

Arcanos Keep

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Mel's lantern, placed upon the ground, does little to actually illuminate the battlefield despite it's magical properties. With the day still going strong, it's fire is a wiff compared to the brightness of the sun. That said, even if it's light is not strong enough to brighten the area, it's magical properties still easily kick in. The rats gain a glow that matches the colour of the faefire from the lantern, making them easier to see. It also ensures for Mel that no other combatants are lurking in the tall grass waiting to jump in and join the fight. She can safely stay at her vantage point and hurl her flaming rocks.

The razor rats are all over Severine as she notes the fae landing behind her, eagerly darting about her feet and chewing at her legs while she reacts to this new entry. With those robes being robes, they even manage to use the flapping fabric for concealment as they dart in and out, nipping at her hit points one small hit at a time.

(Combat! Party rolls 1d8 for Severine's Cunning, +2 for Severine's equipment, +1 for Mel's piling into the battle. 4+4=8. Razor rats roll 1d6 for their might, +1 for their numbers, 2+1=3. Victory for the party! Poses for killing the rats go to the players. For the sake of sticking a needle in Severine's craw, each player nets one kill.)

Once the battle is over, both Mel and Severine are awarded their XP and treasure. Severine is awarded a razor rat pelt. Severine is awarded 3 xp, Mel is awarded 1 xp. It's a start towards level 2, which they should reach when they get to 10 xp.

Vanguard HQ

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

With a shake of his head, the tall guild master tells Kayleesa, "No, nothing urgent. At this early stage, the world seems to be waiting for us to act. Perhaps there will be more events and more creatures that take the initiative now, but this world seems to at least be waiting for us to be able to catch our breath and establish ourselves. It's important we do not waste that opportunity.


By the time Kayleesa reaches the Market Ward, she arrives just as a potion merchant is beginning to pack up his kit. She sees a man in his mid twenties sitting on a giant pillow in the market square underneath a sun shade. He's got set up beside him a wooden box full of glass vials. The man himself is dressed rather casually, billowy pants and a open vest, showing off his lean figure. He's just now beginning to pack up his stuff to put it away when the angel arrives and he casts his gaze up at her. He gives her a once over, then a small shake of his head as though disappointed. He then offers up a smile, "What can I do for you? Looking for healing potions? I've got a couple still in stock, price for them is five silver a piece. I suppose I could cut you a deal though and offer you both for eight if you want them."

[[GM Note : Assume for the moment that Sanji's game is going on inside the Gamboler's Ace, unless BlueLight corrects us otherwise, so you can feel free to chat with him, try to recruit him, all that jazz.]]

[Sortaix]

Salora was quite happy when she got her potions, as this should be the extra insurance she needs to get things moving. She waved to the potion dealer as she departed now thinking about how to tackle this Misty Vale. Her thoughts then idly drift to her few friends in the real world as she thinks of them, but she can't get distracted now. She has some monsters to kill and experience to gain. She then heads out of the gates and into the wide open world.
Fortunately the walk was not very long, as Misty Vale ended up being rather close. Unfortunately it was also very misty, thus shortening her visibility. This would hamper her ability to shoot at long range, so she'll have to be careful about this. She could see a structure far off, though she wants to take on some weaker monsters before going after something serious. She then decides to notch an arrow and hold her bow semi-ready as she trudges into the mist. She does make a mental note to remember her dagger just in case she does have to get up close. However she is hoping to get at least one arrow off into whatever creatures are waiting for her.

[Icaelus]

Mel had already ignited another rock, arm bent to throw another blazing stone at the rats when an irritated voice cut in, telling her to lay off the rats. The Fae girl frowned at the accusatory tone in the mage's voice. Here she was, trying to help her out and of course she was being called out as a killstealer..
She let her arm drop back to her side, the blazing rock in her hand falling to the ground. Faefire immediately extinguished if the caster was no longer able or willing to supply mana to it, so the rock wouldn't be starting any forest fires, thankfully.

"I apologize. I was only trying to help."
Mel picked up the bronze lantern, snuffing out the blue Faefire flame with a click of her fingers. It didn't hurt to make peace. This particular mage didn't seem like she was one of the Gankers..which of course made sense since the cowards only attacked in groups against players who weren't in a group.
She glanced around at their surroundings, looking for the telltale luminescent glow of those who were exposed to the light of the Faefire lantern. No one seemed to be lurking around, at least. The corpses of the razor rats were still glowing a faint blue..
"I'm Melancholia. Mel is fine."
Mel smiled gently, stepping forward into the open as she introduced herself. She glanced quickly to the top of the mage's head, where text depicting a player's name was usually shown. Severine. Intimidating name, but it suited the mage just fine.

[napsii]

Severine just growled, seeming grumpy even though the two Razor Rats had just exploded into ashen rat bits before her eyes and continued to rain down upon her even as she dusted off her robe. Her interface proudly shone a message that she had gained some XP points, but the mage was in a sour enough mood that she didn't pay attention to her reward. Even if she tried not to look down, the shredded zones of her robe were impossible for her ignore. The real Emma Hayes liked all of her clothes in neat and tidy order, but there was something about seeing her digital clothes sullen that set Severine the mage off like a fireball. She deplored it when an enemy as idiotic as a rat could tear apart the aesthetics of her avatar just because it was favored by the game mechanics. It was just... dumb! But besides that, she wasn't certain how many fights she could go before she ended up naked if this kept up. Below her robe, she only wore a rather racy, one piece-like bodysuit and a pair of leather thigh-highs. The simple comforts provided by Altera's unrealistic nature -- such as not having to wear underwear, since articles like her body suit provided all of the support she needed -- were something she appreciated, but that didn't mean she wanted to walk around like a damn slut!

She huffed for a while, cooling her jets and looking at the lantern-wielding Fae. Okay, so maybe the other player wasn't the baddie and she had just lost her temper. And she could repair her robe eventually. But the combat logs still showed the Fae as having killed one of the rats. The mage's brow beetled, but she did her best to let it go. That could have been 4 XP in her pocket -- 40% of the way to level 2, which although equally nooby as level 1, was a start to becoming more capable. Since she wasn't entirely confident in trying to blow the Fae to smithereens with freshly depleted hit points and a Might debuff looming above her (not that she would have to begin with, since that would put her on the level with those Ganker idiots), she turned to face the other player instead, tucking her wooden staff firmly on her back. She really did want to get to Arcanos Keep already, but there was something about that name -- Melancholia -- that was setting off alarms in her head. Where had she heard that before? The mage pulled her hood up over her head as she pondered. Not as Severine, but as Emma Hayes, who had been chatting with her friends excitedly about Altera in anticipation of its release. Her sister Dahlia, too, even though she didn't play. Not to her knowledge, anyway.

She'd meant to meet up with many of them in-game at launch day, but strangely, hadn't managed to find even one of them so far. Yet even not knowing this Fae, she knew that name. A lightbulb set off above her head as she at last recalled why it was familiar. Dahlia had mentioned it, hadn't she? Yeah... her sister had been talking about people she knew who were going to play Altera, and what plans they had for their characters.

"Mel, huh... hey, do you know a girl named Dahlia in real life? Or Denieve?" she questioned idly. Looking toward Arcanos Keep, though, she realized that she really wanted to get a move on and level up.

"Um... I'm gonna go to Arcanos Keep to see how far I can get." she said, seeming to have cooled off. With that, she began to walk on at a leisurely pace to the rest of the way to the Keep.

[Angel_Slayer_Alcatraz]

Lucy looked towards the illumination
"light...light good"
She proceeded towards the strange illumination
She grabbed her staff and pulled it off her back and readied it

[MiscChaos]

Shima's irritation over still being in the bar is visible by this point. "If there's nothing else, I will be in the market. It wouldn't do to be caught off guard by any poisonous tricks the man has up his sleeves." she says, hopping off her bar stool and making her way out the door. "I suppose we meet at the town's exit when all preparations are complete."

[Inferi]

Nodding in response to Jarvin’s little speech, she responded with, “Alright. Make sure you let me know if anything changes that I can help with.” Although she hadn’t managed to make her own PM system work as well as it could, it worked well enough to receive short messages from people she was virtual friends with from anywhere in the world. At least, the range seemed infinite so far, and it would make sense that it would be given the scope of the game, but she figured that it was possible that there could be area-specific rules that they hadn't run into yet. That was how she figured any of the guild members would get in touch with her if they needed to, and really how she could have talked to Jarvin just now. Still, speaking in person was a lot more, well, personal, and it made her feel more comfortable than to just see lines of text scroll past her eyes.

While doubtful about her own abilities to actually make a difference in a major event at this point, Kay knew that wouldn’t stop her from trying. What was the worst that could happen, anyways? It might hurt a bit to die, but if she was going to come back it might be a necessary trial that she would have to face. Very few people ever made it to the end of a game without failing at least once, and she was most certainly not expecting to be one of those few. You never got anywhere without making mistakes first, right?

Turning on her heel and making her way back towards the door, Kay called over her shoulder, “See you later!” to Jarvin before exiting. It was always important to be nice to people, even ones that you were already friends with. Especially those, really, since keeping friends was just as important as making new ones. While she knew it wasn’t always possible to make a situation friendly just by being nice, that didn’t stop her from doing that should the circumstances permit it. That much, at least, hadn’t changed from real life, including the slightly awkward feeling that she got when she was trying to talk to people she didn’t know.

As soon as she was through the doorframe, and had made sure there was nobody around that she would hit, Kayleesa spread her wings, sighing as she did. While having them tucked wasn’t uncomfortable, having them unfurled was a so much more…liberating. It just felt that much better, like the difference between walking on a cloudy day as compared to walking in the sunlight. Well, to her that seemed like a good comparison, but other people might not feel the same as she did. Ah, well, no sense in worrying about it.

With three mighty beats of her wings, creating gusts that made a few people in the vicinity clutch their hats to prevent them from flying off, the angel took to the air. Jarvin’s words were fresh in her mind, and she wondered what was going to come in the future. He was right, at least from what she had seen, and it worried her slightly. Worlds with stories like this had to have something in them that built up to the end, and if they didn’t really know what it was then anyone could start it without even meaning to. If that happened before they were ready…well, she wasn’t sure she really wanted to think about a world in which the Rifts could never be closed and whatever horrors resided within roamed free, likely in dominance over the population on sentients that controlled it now.

Those were just thoughts, though, and she knew that there was no point worrying now. Searching for what exactly would trigger the spiral, maybe, but until they knew what to be worried about it made no sense to actually be worried about everything, or be on a ghost hunt for whatever the trigger might be. No, he was right, they should take the time given to them to prepare, and hope that nothing happened before then.

Hopefully her trip to the Rift might shed some light on the subject.

The trip was short, the air granting her a boost in speed and a reduction in the distance she would have to travel, the winding streets not much to her liking even without the extra distance. The air never had any traffic, apart from the birds or the player that had also chosen something that could fly as well. She kept a wide berth from the latter, out of politeness more than anything else. Few people would really want someone flying on a collision course with them, and some people still hadn’t mastered the art of flight yet.

The Market Ward was both crowded and large enough that Kay wasn’t quite sure where to land. That was the only issue with flight, that you had to land, and sometimes finding a good place was difficult. The market square was where she eventually picked, due mainly to the open area in the center where just a few people were standing. Most of the traffic was around the edges, where the merchant stalls and boutiques were situated. What few people were in the middle moved out of the way when the angel came flying down, her intention to land quite clear, and upon her landing and folding of wings they just went back to their normal business, some giving her slightly irritated looks that were probably due to the small gusts of wind that had accompanied her arrival.

It was fortunate that the merchant nearby noticed her, since Kayleesa really had no idea where to begin. There were multiple places here that sold potions, but she didn’t know who gave the best price or who was the most reliable. When she spotted the man with the glass vials, and noticed that he seemed to be giving her a searching look, she was about to ask what he was looking at or for when the look that said he was slightly disappointed crossed his features. That raised even more questions, but his next question to her made her realize that, at the very least, this is what she was here for.

His question to her made her wonder if the merchants in this game always knew exactly what the players were searching for, but asking them something like that would yield no information. This was supposed to be real, after all, and reality wasn’t a game to those within it. The only problem she had then was that she didn’t know how much potions actually went for here, and what was a good price and what wasn’t. If she knew that, she might have attempted to haggle, but the lack of knowledge made her too nervous to do such a thing. If this was her reality for a while, offending any of those that lived within it seemed like a bad idea, and she didn’t know how particular merchants responded to haggling of prices.

“Oh, um, yeah, sure.” she said, stumbling through the first words. Shaking that off, she continued, “Yeah, I’d like the two of them.”

It was a pity that he didn’t have more, but she would take what she could get. Maybe she could look for other people with more, although two seemed like they should be enough to keep her alive for a while. Her own skills were that horrible that she would have to completely rely on potions to keep her from death.

After handing over the money and receiving the potions, Kayleesa paused for a second, then had to ask, “Why did you look disappointed when you first saw me? Is there something wrong?”

While the answer might be inconsequential, or he might not even want to answer, the look had bothered her a little, and she wanted to know if there was an actual reason for why he had done it.

[Oroboros1337]

Misty Vale

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

While at first it's a simple matter of following the path, once Salora gets down into the thick of the mist, she finds the path comes to a dead end. The end of the path is a circle cobblestone platform, somewhere that a person could easily set up a camp if they wanted to. Visible off through the fog though she can make out the outlines of three different stone pedestals. The vale itself was open grasslands with not a landmark to be seen except for these pedestals. With fog this thick, it would be difficult to keep your bearings without using one of the pedestals to keep your orientation.

Going from her left to her right, the first pedestal has the outline of a bat with it's wings spread. The second is a hand, it's fingers spread as though it is waving at either her or something opposite her from the pedestal. The third one is a pyramid, triangular in the Egyptian style.

Arcanos' Keep

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

The bodies of the razor rats are easily left behind by the pair of spellcasters. Their fair weather holds as they resume their journey towards the Keep. This time however, nothing more threatening than the musical chirp of spring birds disturbs their conversation. While they walk, the looming form of Arcanos' Keep comes into view. No spindily tower, the shaft of the tower seems to be as large and square as one would expect from a castle's keep. The tower has far more floors than any keep would however, looking to have somewhere around ten of them. As they get closer, the cobblestone path becomes less and less patchy until it forms a solid road to the keep itself. Up ahead, the women can see that there are the statues of gargoyles lining the path to the front door, probably about thirty statues in all. The double door is made of a dark wood reinforced with steel, twice as tall as the average person and wide enough to accomodate a wagon were both to be open at the same time.

The Briar Wood.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

With her staff in hand, Lucy makes her way through the dark underbrush of Briar Wood. She has to circle wide a few times to avoid the large, lethal looking thorns that fill this forest, but that isn't much difficulty considering the leisurely pace she's able to take.

When she draws nearer to the illumination, she can see it is in a place where the trees of the forest seem to be particularly old. The canopy reaches up high, leaving the area she stumbles upon almost like a 'cave' with the walls made of brush, the 'roof' made of leaves, and the 'floor' being the grass under her boots. Inside the clearing, she finds that there is a ring of mushrooms that grows in the middle, a series of glowing mushrooms each as big as a dinner plate and growing in a perfect circle. When the breeze blows through this clearing, there is the sound of tinking almost like that of wind chimes. Nobody else seems to be there, the clearing is all Lucy's.

The Market Ward

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

The potion vendor hesitates a moment when Kayleesa opts to purchase the potions, then shrugs to himself and says, "Alright, here you are then." He passes the two red vials to the angel and then takes the money. He seems quite bored by the exchange. When the mage hunter then asks him about his disappointment though, he chuckles and perks up. "Wrong? Well, kinda. I'm just used to seeing angels with a bit more to 'em. When I saw you floating in, I was hoping for something with a little more curves, you know, someone top heavy and with an ass as divine as the race. I suppose your eyes are fine. Just not my type, you know? Have a big sister, and is she single? Maybe you could introduce me." His voice has grown quite amused as he makes those taunts against her body type, his eyes now locked on her face, looking for her reaction.


When Shinma arrives at the Market Ward, she'll find the whole place bustling with activity. People milling about everywhere with bundles of things that they've either bought or sold, guardsmen patrolling the district to keep things orderly, and merchants everywere displaying their wares. Over at one edge of the market, she might even see a winged woman in conversation with a younger potion merchant.